China drought likely to last, threatening winter wheat

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's ongoing drought in northern wheat areas is likely to continue, threatening the winter crop, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Thursday.

The drought worsened in some wheat areas that haven't seen precipitation recently despite a slight decrease in the overall size of the drought-hit region as of Wednesday, said the ministry in a statement published on its web site.

For areas that have received precipitation or irrigation recently, the drought may reappear with rising temperature, as wheat needs increasing volume of water when temperature increases, it said.